Biomass Takes Yet Another Unfair Hit
June 4, 2010
BY Rona Johnson
Well I've finally heard what is possibly the most inane argument opposing a biomass power facility. This one is even worse than some biomass opponents who claim that burning biomass is worse than coal.
The latest affront was in a news story in the Indiana Daily Student about Liberty Green Renewables LLC, an Indiana-based company, which is planning to build a 28-megawatt biomass plant in Crawford County, Ind.
According to Liberty Green, the plant, when it becomes operational, will directly provide for 25 full-time positions and indirectly create another 30 jobs for those interested in collecting and transporting biomass. This is not counting about 100 jobs that would be created during the construction of the facility.
Opponents of the plant were concerned that these jobs wouldn't be filled by local residents because they wouldn't be "adequately qualified." I don't know about you, but if a company has the potential to provide 55 permanent jobs I would think that would be beneficial for most small communities in the U.S. Is it a bad thing if more people move to the community to support local businesses, use local schools and add to the local tax base?
Here in North Dakota, rural areas are struggling as more people move to the larger cities, leaving communities grappling to find more money to fix roads and infrastructure, provide services to those that are left behind and to fill classrooms. And all this is still happening despite the flourishing economy in North Dakota, where agriculture and oil are basically shielding us from the recession that's gripped other areas of the country.
Not everyone here directly benefits from oil or farming but when they prosper a whole lot of other industries including seed dealers, equipment dealers, retailers, restaurants, trucking companies, gas stations sees an increase in business.
I get the whole "not in my backyard" thing, but soon there won't be anything, or anybody, in their backyards.
The latest affront was in a news story in the Indiana Daily Student about Liberty Green Renewables LLC, an Indiana-based company, which is planning to build a 28-megawatt biomass plant in Crawford County, Ind.
According to Liberty Green, the plant, when it becomes operational, will directly provide for 25 full-time positions and indirectly create another 30 jobs for those interested in collecting and transporting biomass. This is not counting about 100 jobs that would be created during the construction of the facility.
Opponents of the plant were concerned that these jobs wouldn't be filled by local residents because they wouldn't be "adequately qualified." I don't know about you, but if a company has the potential to provide 55 permanent jobs I would think that would be beneficial for most small communities in the U.S. Is it a bad thing if more people move to the community to support local businesses, use local schools and add to the local tax base?
Here in North Dakota, rural areas are struggling as more people move to the larger cities, leaving communities grappling to find more money to fix roads and infrastructure, provide services to those that are left behind and to fill classrooms. And all this is still happening despite the flourishing economy in North Dakota, where agriculture and oil are basically shielding us from the recession that's gripped other areas of the country.
Not everyone here directly benefits from oil or farming but when they prosper a whole lot of other industries including seed dealers, equipment dealers, retailers, restaurants, trucking companies, gas stations sees an increase in business.
I get the whole "not in my backyard" thing, but soon there won't be anything, or anybody, in their backyards.
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